Promise, progress, or posturing? India and the Intellectual Property Chapter in the United Kingdom-India Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement

This article presents the first in-depth and critical analysis of the intellectual property rights (IPR) Chapter in the United Kingdom–India Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), concluded in 2025. Negotiated across fourteen rounds over three years, the CETA’s IPR Chapter represents the most ambitious IP chapter India has negotiated in any trade agreements to date. Against the backdrop of the UK’s post-Brexit trade strategy and India’s long-standing “policy-space-first” approach, this article examines the IPR Chapter’s design, substantive provisions, and implications for developing country IP governance. The article advances three central contributions. First, it contextualizes the IPR Chapter within India’s wider and evolving IP policy framework, particularly following the adoption of the 2016 National Intellectual Property Rights Policy, and demonstrates how India’s negotiating stance continues to prioritise flexibility and development-oriented outcomes despite India’s acknowledgement of its growing role as an IP-producing economy. Second, it assesses whether the IPR Chapter could feasibly serve as a reference point or model for other developing countries navigating bilateral free trade agreement negotiations, particularly those navigating tensions between international IP obligations and domestic policy autonomy. Third, it argues that while the IPR Chapter offers valuable reference points, particularly in balancing international obligations with domestic policy space, advancing public health measures, and strengthening geographical indication protection, it falls short of providing a comprehensive template. The Chapter’s silences on equitable technology mechanisms, sustainability-driven IP reforms, and contemporary challenges such as artificial intelligence-related concerns underscore inherent limitations of such trade agreements in advancing forward-looking IP governance.